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The day after the White House apologized for President Barack Obama’s misstatement about “Polish death camps,” the Prime Minister of Poland on Wednesday savaged the remark as a “distortion of history” and said his country could never accept it, even coming from a friendly power.

“We always react in the same way when ignorance, lack of knowledge, bad intentions lead to such a distortion of history, so painful for us here in Poland, in a country which suffered like no other in Europe during World War II,” said Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusks in a statement Wednesday. “The words uttered yesterday by the President of the United States Barack Obama concerning ‘Polish death camps’ touched all Poles.”

He added, “Here, in Poland, we cannot accept such words even if they are spoken by the leader of a friendly power — or perhaps especially in such situations — since we expect diligence, care, and respect from our friends on issues of such importance as World War II remembrance.”

On Tuesday, Obama made a reference to “Polish death camps” while awarding a Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor, to Jan Karski.